Stop-motion for narrow fabric looms



April 3, 1956 L. BALLARD 2,740,433

STOP-MOTION FOR NARROW FABRIC LOOMS Filed March 10, 1953 IIHI Illi flvnfov Lee Ballard FEM 2,740,433 STOP-MOTION FOR NARROW FABRIC LOOMS Lee Ballard, White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., assignor to Burlington Industries, Inc., a corporation of Delaware Application March 10, 1953, Serial No. 341,401 5 Claims. or. 139-371 The present invention relates to a device for stopping a loom, particularly a loom for narrow fabric, in the event of breakage or loss of tension in one or more of the filling yarns.

For many years there has been a need for a practical device for stopping looms, particularly narrow fabric and like looms, in the same weaving cycle in which a filling yarn or thread breaks or loses tension for any reason.

A device of the type above-mentioned is disclosed in Corl Patent No. 2,557,533, issued June 19, 1951. The Corl patent discloses a stop-motion device incorporating a flag mounted on the shuttle and arranged to interrupt a beam of light and actuate a photoelectric cell when a filling yarn breaks. The device, although completely operative, proved in some cases, too sensitive for normal mill operation.

My present invention comprises a loom stopping device similar in many respects to the Corl device, but improved in that it is more rugged and in that it is not subject to false operation which might result in the Corl device. Furthermore, in my device the delicate control circuits incorporating the photoelectric cell are eliminated and the device is not subject to occasional erroneous actuation.

it is an object of my invention to provide a loom stoppin device which is substantially instantaneously operated upon breakage of or loss of tension in the filling yarn.

it is another object of the invention to provide such a loom stopping device which is rugged and which is not subject to occasional false actuation in continuous mill operation.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide such a loom stopping device which is extremely simple and which requires substantially no service.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel shuttle combination including a transversely flexible and longitudinally rigid operator or detector and thread guide useful in complete stop-motion devices of the type herein referred to.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent when the following description is considered in connection with the annexed drawings, in which:

Figure l is a top plan view of part of a loom sufiicient to illustrate the shuttle carrying batten and the shuttles, and showing the stop-motion of my invention as applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a reduced fragmentary cross-sectional view of one of the shuttles, its supporting blocks and battens and the control member in the form of a switch bar;

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the switch bar and the contact member or button cooperating therewith;

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the control bar and button of the other figures showing further details of their construction; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the tor and thread actuator guide for the member.

coiled spring operastop-motion control Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Figures l and 2, there is shown therein as illustrative, one

form of the invention. The loom includes the longitudinal or batten members 19 and 11 which form part of the oscillatory shuttle mounting. Fixed to the batten members are the shuttle block pairs 12 and 13 between which the shuttles 14 move back and forth in laying the filling" yarn. As is well known, the batten structure carrying the shuttles and other operating mechanism common in looms of this type, oscillate forward and backward and the shuttles travel longitudinally to and fro between shuttle block pairs 12, 13 in a path at right angles to the travel of the narrow fabric bands 15 as they are woven. The warp yarns 16 are of course fed forwardly between the shuttle block pairs as is indicated in the drawings.

The shuttles 14 carry the filling yarns wound on quills 17 which are rotatably mounted in the shuttle compartments. The yarns are fed through tensioning mechanisms in these compartments to filling positions in the narrow fabric being produced. The tensioning mechanism illustrated in the drawings comprises a pair of guide eyelets such as the rings 18, each mounted on the end of a coil spring 24), which may move into and out of passages in the sides of the shuttles as the tension on the yarn varies, all as is well known in the art. Before passing through the eyelets 18 the yarn passes through a ring 21 mounted on a curved wire support 22 secured in the nose of the ring 18, and then through the tightly coiled spring 24 to the ribbon l5.

Referring now to Figure 5, it will be seen that one end of the spring 24 fits into an opening 24a in the nose of the shuttle and the spring 24 is provided at each end with an eyelet 25 which may be of porcelain or the like with smooth interior surfaces. The yarn 23 thus. passes through opening 24a and spring 24 and through the central opening in each of these eyelets.

The yarn 23 is normally under tension and maintains the coil springs 24 in the position shown in the two left hand shuttles of Figure 1. However, if the yarn breaks or loses tension the associated spring 24 will assume the position shown at the right of Figure 1, that is the spring 24 will straighten out.

Mounted adjacent the forward edge of the battens 10 and 11 when these battens are in their most forward position is a bar 26, see Figure 3. This bar has a slot extending longitudinally thereof in which is mounted a second and smaller bar 27, the smaller bar being electrically insulated from the large bar 26 by means of the insulating coating 28.

A number of control buttons or switch elements 30 are positioned on the bar 26, the number of such buttons being normally one greater than the number of shuttles, in the case of a single deck straight shot batten, as disclosed for illustrative purposes. These buttons are located at positions in alignment with the noses of the shuttles when the shuttles are in either of their extreme positions transversely of the ribbons 15.

Each button 39 comprises a generally rectangular tube 31 which fits over the bar 26 and is slidably positioned to move forwardly and rearwardly of that bar. The buttons may be adjusted longitudinally of the bar 26 in any suitable manner and fixed in their adjusted position in any suitable manner, as for example, by'means of screws 32 extending through a slot in the tube 31 and threaded into the bar 26. The bar 26 is grooved as indicated at 33, the grooves being positionally correlated with the holes for receiving the screws 32.

The lower element of the rectangular tube 31 is provided with a boss 34 which when the button is in the full line position, as indicated in Figure 3, makes contact with the bar 27. When the button 30 is in its normal position, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 3, the boss 34 is out of contact with the bar 27.

, As long as the loom is operating normally all buttons 30 are in the dotted line position as seen in Figure 3; and

a motor control circuit, including bars as and 27, is

broken. However, if any of the yarn 23 breaks or loses tension, the condition indicated in the right hand shuttle of Figure 1 obtains, and upon the next forward excursion of the battens and 11 and shuttles 14, the coil spring 24, associated with the shuttle 14 having the broken thread, strikes the associated button 38 moving the boss 34 into contact with the bar 27.

As a result of this a circuit is completed from the bar 26 through the rectangular tubular member 31 and the boss 34 to the bar 27. The motor control circuit relay Si) is thus energized and the motor driving the loom thereby deenergized in any suitable manner. The particular manner in which the motor control circuit is organized is unimportant and the motor control art is aware of many forms of control devices for this purpose. Therefore, a detailed showing of a suitable form of control for the motor is not necessary.

There is no novelty in the operation of the loom mechanism illustrated in the drawings for the purpose of explaining this invention. The warp threads 16 are formed into a shed in any suitable manner to provide the space through which the shuttles 14 pass in laying the filling yarn 23. The batten frame and associated mechanism on which the shuttles 14 reciprocate moves backward and forward in the usual manner to facilitate the passing of the shuttles through the shed. Likewise, in accordance with the usual practice, the filling yarn is forced into the apex of the shed or beaten into position by means of reeds (not shown).

As will be obvious from the drawings, the spring 24 is tightly coiled and tends to straighten out in the position illustrated in connection with the right hand shuttle of Figure 1. In this position it is rigid in an axial direction. When the fillng yarn associated with a particular spring 24 is unbroken and remains under the proper tension the spring will bend first to one side and then to the other of its central position. As the shuttles move back and forth between the shuttle block pairs 12 and 13, the spring 24 in passing from one side to the other of its mounting point in the nose of the shuttle will, of course, pass through the central position, but at the time that this occurs the batten framework including the battens 10 and 11 will have carried the shuttles rearwardly so that the spring 24 cannot make contact with the buttons 30.

It is, of course, obvious that the operation of any one of the plurality of control buttons 30 will energize the control circuits through the bars 26 and 27 and will result in the loom being stopped. In order to restore the loom to operation the attendant will first have to properly tension any filling yarn which has lost its tension or knot any yarn which has broken and will then replace the operated button 30 in its normal position before restarting the loom.

This invention is applicable to other types of looms, including those using the single deck circular battens, double deck straight shot battens, double deck cross shot batens, double deck circular battens, and the like. As those skilled in the art will understand, in the case of a double deck straight shot batten the number of control buttons or switch elements required will be two greater than the number of shuttles, while in the case of single deck and double deck circular battens there must be two control buttons or switch elements for each shuttle.

While I have described a preferred form of my invention, it will be understood that the invention is capable of considerable variation in detail. The bars 26 and 27 might, for example, be omittedand a simple supporting structure for individual switches substituted. These switches might be connected in parallel in a motor control circuit which is normally de-energized, or might be connected in series in a normally energized circuit. I do not, therefore, wish to be limited to the particular form of the invention selected for illustrative purposes, but on the contrary, wish to be limited solely to the scope of the claims granted to me.

What is claimed is:

1. In a loom having a shuttle which moves transversely of the longitudinal axis of the fabric being woven as well as parallel to that axis, in combination, a loom controller movable from a normal non-controlling position to controlling position, a resilient operator for the controller mounted on the shuttle normally tending to register with and move said controller to controlling position at a given time in the loom cycle as the shuttle moves parallel to said axis, means mounted on said operator and traversed by the filling yarn causing said operator to be deected out of register with the controller at said given time when the filling yarn is properly tensioned, and means under control of said controller effective due to movement of the controller to controlling position by the operator when the latter is in register with the controller at said given time and due to loss of tension of the filling yarn to stop the loom.

2. In a narrow ware loom having a shuttle which re ciprocates backwardly and forwardly with the lay, a loom controller forward of the shuttle normally in non-controlling rearward position but movable forwardly to controlling position and when in controlling position effecting loom stoppage, and a resilient detector on the shuttle traversed by the filling yarn and in register with the controller at a given time in the loom cycle and moving the controller to controlling position as the lay beats up in the event the tension in the yarn is defective but being deflected laterally by the yarn and being out of register with the controller at said given time to enable the controller to remain in normal non-controlling position in the event the yarn is under proper tension as the lay heats 3. The structure set forth in claim 2, wherein the detector is a longitudinally rigid and transversely flexible arm having a guide at the end through which the filling yarn passes from the shuttle to the fabric being woven.

4. The structure set forth in claim 2, wherein the de tector is a closed coil spring through which the filling yarn passes from the shuttle to the fabric being woven.

5. In a loom having a shuttle which moves transversely of the longitudinal axis of the fabric being Woven as well as parallel to that axis, in combination, a loom controller movable from a normal non-controlling position to a controlling position, a transversely defiectable and longitudinally rigid operator for the controller mounted on the shuttle normally tending to register with and move said controller to controlling position at a given time in the loom cycle as the shuttle moves parallel to said axis, means forming part of said operator and traversed by the filling yarn causing said operator to be deflected out of register with the controller at said given time when the filling yarn is properly tensioned, and means operated by said controller effective on movement of the controller to controlling position by the operator to actuate the controller to stop the loom.

Chaize May 19, 1903 2,101,801 Weisbecker Dec. 7, 1937 2,650,625 Johnson Sept. 1, 1953 

